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Abstract
With fast growth, internet has been used almost everywhere. For marketing research, internets bi-directional,
multimedia characteristics make marketing research more easily and efficient. In this paper, data collection in marketing
research is discussed. It focuses on the application of internet in data collection. The strength and weakness are also
mentioned.
E-mail
The text-based e-mail survey is the most basic online research form. E-mail surveys are very like traditional mail
surveys, the whole survey is sent to the audience, and can be seen by the respondent at once and respondents can change
their answers at any time during the survey. The only difference is the way to transmit the survey. There is no need of
special software and too much high technique, so it is considered as the least costly and simplest method. But at the
same time, this simplicity leads to boring feeling when people complete the survey. Generally speaking, the ideal use
of e-mail form is for internal corporate surveys because these audiences tend to follow instructions better than external
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Bulletin boards
Bulletin board researches are useful for a "modified Delphi method" for collecting responses over time (MacElroy
1999). Similar to a focus group, the researcher invites a group of respondents to a specific Web site, of a physically
existed meeting room, where a discussion topic is posted. People can respond to the question(s) and express their
opinions based on others' comments.
The cost of bulletin boards is also cheap, but somewhat higher than e-mail surveys because handling the comment
transcripts and code responses is very time-consuming. The rich data it provides and relatively rapid reactions are its
biggest advantages.
Web HTML
The HTML form-based surveys allow the respondent to click buttons and boxes, to fill in text boxes, and eventually to
submit the information all at once. The colorful design such as graphics, audio, video, and animation make the whole
survey process more interesting and attractive. Nowadays, it is the most common form of on-line survey, accounting for
almost 80 percent of all survey data being collected on-line (MacElroy 1999).
Downloadable surveys
Another on-line research method is surveys that are downloaded from the Web and run on previously installed software
provided by the researcher (MacElroy 1999). This technique shifts the computing tasks from the on-line server to the
respondents PC. Once the survey has downloaded on the respondents PC, a data file is created which can then be
opened the next time the Internet is accessed.
As an alternative, completely custom-programmed surveys can be used for single-use surveys. Of all the research
options mentioned here, this technique allows the researcher to have the most control and flexibility. Because this type
of survey requires respondents have certain level computer knowledge in order to install software and correctly handle
the data upload process, this form of online research tend to be more costly and time-intensive than other forms.
Typically, this technique is often used with panels or pre-recruited groups who regularly communicate with the survey
organizer (MacElroy 1999).
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Data mining is rapidly becoming the mainstream in marketing research in recent years due to the need for
consumer-centric marketing. The goal of customer-centric marketing is to seek to better understand the customers, thus,
sophisticated data mining applications are required. Usually, companies are interested in collecting customers data
such as buying patterns, demographic, and psychological trends and other types of customer knowledge. Based on this
detailed information, companies will be able to create appropriate targeted marketing plans. Then the marketer can
correlate those data with information they have and find out who the most profitable customers are. However,
sometimes it is difficult to collect data about people who have bogus information. In this case, the marketer needs to use
data-cleansing tools to identify whether the data is valid and filter out junk data from the main database, so that the
marketer will not make wrong decisions because of those errant data (Harter 1999).
2.4 Barriers of Internet Surveys Development
Internet survey research also has some barriers on. Issues such as consumer privacy and non-representative of Internet
samples are often- mentioned disadvantages. We will discuss these issues in detail in the following.
2.4.1 Privacy issues
The growing application of the Internet in marketing research has enabled companies and marketers to obtain consumer
information efficiently (Blattberg, Glazer, and Little 1994; Milne 2000). However, as companies are increasingly using
sophisticated data-mining techniques to build extensive consumer databases, security on the Internet becomes a concern
and consumer privacy is potentially violated during the process of information exchanges with marketers (Bloom,
Miline, and Adler 1994; Miline 2000). As Miline indicates, information exchanges can occur in two different ways: "In
some ways consumers volunteer the information, and in others the information it is gathered without consumers'
knowledge and consent " (Miline 2000). As consumers become comfortable shopping online, filling out surveys, and
giving their credit card information over the Internet, they have control over their personal information and are aware of
what information is given out. An industry-sponsored poll indicates that "online shoppers do not mind their behaviors
being watched if their shopping experience can be customized and they have an opportunity to opt out " (Greenberg
2000; Miline 2000). Unfortunately, by using cookies and tracking software, many organizations engage in data
collection activities " that customers do not perceive as favorable" (Miline 2000). For example, companies such as
DoubleClick can merge cookies to help online marketers to track consumers' online behavior such as click-and -viewing
patterns. This information permits companies to sell advertising on their Website, which in turn, "contributes to
consumers' concerns about profiling and unwanted e-mail solicitations" (Caudill and Murphy 2000; Petty 2000; Miline
2000). Another concern of consumer privacy is that consumer information on a database is potentially accessible to the
entire Internet world (Miline 2000). As the result, whether consumers are willing to make or not to make a trade-off and
permit marketers or organizations to collect their personal information become important issues for online marketing
practices. Recently, the FTC unanimously supported unanimously supported a self-regulatory proposal developed by
the Network Advertising Initiative, a coalition of third-party ad-servers such as DoubleClick, 24/7 Media and Engage to
protect consumers' online privacy (AdAge 2000). In addition, technological solutions nowadays also enable consumers
to protect their identity while providing information to marketers.
2.4.2 Biased results
Non-representative of Internet samples is one of major disadvantages of online data collection. The expense and effort
can be tremendous for correcting biased results. In Research and the Internet: A Winning Combination, Clarkson (1999)
shows a few examples of how companies handle biased results. For example, instead of distributing surveys to its
customers, Drugstore.com places the survey on its Website, which allows customers volunteer the information. The
bottom line for this data collection method is that as long as the demographics of the Web are close to the demographics
of the people the company tries to reach, the results are acceptable (Clarkson 2000). As Clarkson indicates, it is general
belief that "the data collected would lead to good insights regarding the potential market, and the skewed demographics
could be corrected by using statistical techniques to weight the actual responses to bring them in line with the
demographics of the population at large" (Clarkson 2000). However, some companies such as Gallup challenges such a
belief by conducting more rigorous research procedures combining traditional and Internet research methods in order to
obtain scientifically accurate online data results. Gallup first conducts telephone interviews with all potential
respondents. Gallup then mails letters, which include a personal identification number (PIN) and an Internet address, to
the screened respondents. In this scenario, survey responses can be tied back to information already known about the
individuals by comparing data with their original identification codes (Weissbach 1997). This way enables Gallup to
maximize participation and representativeness as well as trace who has completed or has not completed the survey.
After two weeks, e-mails are also used for reminding people to fill out their survey. In order to increase response rates,
Gallup also provides $5 cash reward for respondents who complete the survey. Clarkson also indicates that depending
on the company and the respondents being surveyed, the Web-based survey is not always appropriate. The company
must evaluate its problem and situation carefully before using Internet survey to gather the data.
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Another reason for getting biased results in online data collection is due to limited usage of the Internet. Despite the
rapid growth of personal computers, Internet usage penetration in every household is not as prevalent as television does.
Besides, Internet users tend to be younger, more educated, and affluent. As a result, elders and people with less
education and less income are more likely to be ignored by marketing researchers. Moreover, due to the nature of
electronic questionnaires, Internet users can choose to discard and not to fill out the survey (Iyer 1996). In this case, the
marketing researcher may need to use some incentives to attract people. For example, enticements could include entry
in a contest, the chance to download some personal software, and participation in a game (Weissbach 1997).
References
Blattberg, R., Glazer R. & Little J. (1994). The Marketing Information Revolution. Boston: Harvard Business School
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Caudill, E. M. & Murphy P. E. (2000). Consumer Online Privacy: Legal and Ethical Issues, Journal of Public Policy
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Clarkson, B. (1999). Research and the Internet: a Winning Combination, Quirk's Marketing Research Review.
Dommeyer, C. J. & Moriarty E. (2000). comparing two forms of ane-mail survey: embedded vs attached, Journal of the
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39.1
0.0
52.0
0.0
60.2
0.0
75.5
2.3
81.9
2.7
84.5
9.0
86.7
9.0
88.8
9.86
89.9
10.2
10
90.9
52.6
11
92.0
76.4
12
93.1
85.2
13
94.1
95.1
14
95.3
95.8
15
96.2
97.5
16
96.7
97.5
17
97.0
98.4
18
98.3
98.6
19
99.6
98.6
Cut-off day
100.0
100.0
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Vol. 2, No. 1
Online
survey
Traditional
survey
population
21w
46p
AFC members
41w
17w
19e
46p
30e
36p
34h
31f
54e
58p
Tse (1998)
7e
52p
Noh (1998) b
31e
Zelwetro (1998) b
38e
36p
nab
Besser (1997) c
20e
16p
43e
71P
13e
27e
75p
53e
66p
15p
96t
14e
Comely (1996)
47o
69e
a
33e
c
8e
Smith (1997) c
40e
USENET newsgroups
64p
26p
Opperman (1995) c
49e
Kittleson (1995) c
28e
77p
Tse (1995) c
6e
27p
19e
Parker (1992) c
68e
33p
Marketing and
universities
38p
76e
b
MIS
faculty
at
US
AT&T employees
Subscribers to online user group
67e
75p
73e
87t
Note: e = e-mail; h = HTML form; w = e-mail plus HTML form; o = postal plus HTML form; p = post; t =
telephone; f = fax
Sources: Cho and LaRose (1999);
202